Good to the last drop.

My family has been eating LOTS of veggies that I have been sneaking into their food! I credit The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious with the ideas! I received these books for Christmas from my brother and sister-in-law.

Granted, my kids are pretty good eaters and do eat good shares of fruits and veggies – it is my husband that I need to get to eat his veggies. Now, he already knew what I was up to because I am steaming lots of veggies and then throwing them in my food processor and he knew about the books. He said I could do this. Well, I have not tried any of the recipes yet from their books, but instead, took their concepts and added them to my recipes.

For example, I added pureed sweet potatoes and mushrooms to a Hamburger Helper box dinner (not our usual dinner – but got for 50 cents a box! So good occasionally), added pureed cauliflower to my enchilada casserole and tonight I added pureed spinach, squash and zucchini to my homemade spaghetti sauce and threw it over whole wheat spaghetti with some melted mozzarella.

My family eats lots of salads as side dishes and until now, I have not been able to get my youngest to eat it. She finally did and likes it. I was so spoiled when I worked at CJ, I got the best ranch dressing for free every week. I have had the hardest time finding a bottled ranch dressing that myself and the kids like. From one of the books listed above they suggested taking Paul Newman’s ranch because of the ingredients and mixing it with a bit of plain yogurt. We love this – it is so tasty. I also have been leaving carrot chips and fruit out before dinner even starts as appetizers and my kids have been loving this.

I really credit these books with reteaching me good basic healthy ideas. I strongly suggest to take a peak at this. I know this may cause some controversy to the hard core disciplinarians that say put it on the plate and make them eat it. I know I did not like most veggies until I was in my mid-twenties. So in the meanwhile, I will put it on their plate AND sneak it in! I will let you know of what other recipes I have tried with success that sneak in veggies!